The poison from the serpent's bite was seeping through her veins, taking its effect. Courtney was aware that she was growing weaker with each passing second, and very likely, dying. But no way in hell was she going out without a fight.
Summoning all her strength of will, she aimed her staff and sent a blast of energy toward the giant serpent, attacking it with all the power she could manage for as long as she could hold. Her body trembled violently as she struggled to remain upright, but the sole point of her attention was on channeling her every inch of will, every drop of strength, every iota of courage into her weapon.
The world around her seemed at once too fast and too slow, and Courtney could feel her pulse pounding, her heartbeats as loud as gunshots. Throat parched, limbs aching, and vision blurring, she was not aware of anything around her beyond her target. She could see the colossal serpent writhing as the staff's energy swirled around it; in her state, however, she couldn't determine if its movements were growing weaker or not.
But what Courtney knew for certain was that she would not yield. She would not give up. Too much was riding on her victory: the safety of the civilians she was trying to protect, the well-being of the other heroes she fought with, the legacy she trying to uphold.
She couldn't die. She had to stay alive. Stay alive and fight.
Gritting her teeth, Courtney kept her staff steady as its output increased, energy flooding out in torrents of pure concussion. Her knees bent and her shoulders jerked; if the poison didn't knock her to the ground, the amount of force she was channeling would do the job on its own it short order.
Finally, just as Courtney's will was fast fading, there was a loud, terrible shriek, and the serpent burst into pieces, splattering viscous liquid and gory chunks through the air.
Weak with relief, Courtney collapsed onto the street, her head swimming. For a time, she lay there, exhausted, certain that death would overtake her at any moment, but the yell of a familiar voice grounded her back into cognizance.
"Stargirl? You all right, darlin'?"
Opening her eyes and lifting her head, Courtney saw Vigilante running toward her. It was then she realized that she could no longer feel the serpent's poison. Cautiously, she rose, testing her balance, cataloguing her injuries. She held up her arm, examining it for the puncture wound, but was unable to find anything of the sort. Other than some scrapes, aches, and overall tiredness, she didn't seem to have any other maladies. Definitely not the sensation of impending death that had enveloped her only a few minutes ago.
"I'm fine," she said in amazement. Vigilante reached her, and she stared at him, bewildered. "I'm perfectly fine."
"Thought I saw you get bit by that critter?" He inquired, frowning behind his bandana.
"I did," Courtney told him in disbelief. "But somehow . . . I'm fine now."
Vigilante jerked his thumb back in the direction of the emergency vehicles. "There are ambulances over yonder. C'mon, let's get you checked out. What was that thing, anyhow?"
"The Colchian dragon," Courtney said as Vigilante helped her along. "A creature from Greek mythology."
"One of Wonder Woman's whatsits, then." Vigilante nodded, like he'd suspected all along.
"Yeah." Courtney furrowed her brow quizzically. "But the serpent is supposed to stay in Colchis to guard the golden fleece. I wonder why it would leave?"
"Tell you what, Stargirl." Vigilante helped her sit on the curb as paramedics rushed over to her. "I heard from Black Canary, who heard from Green Lantern. He and Bats and Supes and the rest think that it's some sort of magic that's caused all kinds of strange things to start happenin'."
"Must be some kind of powerful magic, to cause all this disaster at once," Courtney remarked, lifting her arm so one of the paramedics could take her pulse.
The sensation washed over Kyle Raynar in an instant, wiping away any weariness or aches plaguing him, replacing them with a natural buoyancy. The sudden shift in his mood startled Kyle, and he paused with his paintbrush halted just in front of the canvas, droplets of paint dripping onto the apartment floor. Had there been any previous chance of regaining the rent deposit, Kyle would have been upset, but for now, he concentrated on the unexpected onslaught of emotion.
Any weight on his shoulders was lifted, and now he suddenly felt refreshed and excited, with new strength and resolve. A slight giddiness accompanied all of these other emotions, and this addition brought Kyle to recognize the whole of the reaction: the feeling of a new love.
"The hell is this?!" Guy Gardner demanded, sitting upright from where he'd been lounging on Kyle's couch. No doubt as another Green Lantern, he'd also been affected.
"The emotional spectrum," Kyle stated, setting aside his paintbrush and palette. Due to their energy rings, they were closely attuned to the power balance of the various Lantern Corps, and could sense any major changes.
"The Star Sapphires," Guy growled. "They've just become a lot more powerful."
"For a while, they were losing power after the Predator entity disappeared and they no longer had a primary source of energy. But once Queen Aga'po sacrificed herself, they restored their Corps," Kyle mused. "Something else must have just happened to give them more influence. I wonder what this means for us?"
Guy retrieved his ring from the power battery where it was charging. "Nothing good. I can tell you that right now."
All news stations were breaking with the same story: STAR Labs had established the first interplanetary base, but there was one casualty. Gar Logan, heir to Dayton Industries, was lost during the mission and now missing and presumed dead.
The door to his personal Watchtower laboratory slid open, and Bruce turned away from the monitors, an eyebrow raised. Most of the other founding members of the League were away on missions, and the majority of the remaining members would be reluctant to intrude upon the Batman's privacy.
"Zatanna. Dr. Fate," he greeted his two visitors.
"We need to speak with you," Zatanna said firmly.
"Can it wait?" Batman asked impatiently. "I've yet to determine what Logan's death means for the League. We were considering establishing an interplanetary outpost alongside STAR Labs, and now it's become a rather precarious position."
"Our concern is in conjunction to that event, as well as others," Doctor Fate informed him.
Intrigued, Batman turned away from the screens to give them his full attention. "I'm listening."
"Approximately seventy-three days ago, I was inside Shadowcrest, preparing ingredients for my spells," Zatanna began.
"Gotham Shadowcrest, or the Shadowcrest within another dimension?" Batman interrupted.
"Gotham Shadowcrest," Zatanna answered. "As I was working, I sensed an enormous release of chaos magic. More than enough for someone to alter our world in small ways that are initially unnoticeable. I retrieved a talisman that I store in the Shadowcrest in another dimension— I keep it there so its properties avoid being affected by magical alterations, but it's still able to detect such alterations that occur here in our primary world."
"And it did," Batman presumed.
Zatanna nodded in confirmation.
"We believe that the fracturing of the spell is the reason for the various strange happenings around the world," Doctor Fate contributed. "Zatanna and I have both become aware that some of our mystical artifacts now behave oddly. Flash and Cyborg reported a reversal in Central City's time-space sequence several weeks ago. And then there's the Nile vortex. For whatever reason, the enchantment is crumbling, and in the process, wreaking havoc with the laws of magic, time, nature, and physics."
"Any idea of the specific purpose of the spell, or who cast it?" Batman queried.
"To change the history of the earth without being immediately discovered and with such a vast amount of chaos magic, the individual must be a powerful sorcerer accustomed to the dark arts," Doctor Fate answered. "But after investigating those who would usually be involved in these incidents, I've not been able to determine the source."
"I've already eliminated Circe," Zatanna volunteered. "But without knowing the reason itself for the spell, I barely know where to begin the search. For that matter, I'm not even certain what aspects of history were changed. I've cast a net, but so far, I haven't made very much progress."
"Oh, don't worry." Batman started for the door. "I have my own methods."